Floating current-wheel.



No. 787,811. PATENTED APR. 18', 1905. P. M. WARREN.

FLOATING CURRENT WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 22,1904. RENEWED MAR. 18, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO No.787,811. PATBNTED APR.18, 1905. P. M. WARREN.

FLOATING CURRENT WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.22,1904. RENEWED MAR.18, 1906.

ZSHEETS-BHEET 2.

BYM 5& I Q M M ATTORNEYS PHINEAS M. \VARREN, OF NYSSA, OREGON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF Patented April 18, 1905.

THOMAS J. I'IUFF, OF N .YSSA, OREGON.

FLOATING CURRENT-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,811, dated April 18, 1905.

Application filed March 22,1904. Renewed March 18, 1905. Serial No. 250,808.

To 11 7/ 1177101 it HIMLZ/ (fencer/1,.-

Be it known that I, Pnixnas M. \Vannnx, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nyssa, in the county of h'lalheur and State of Oregon,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Floating Uurrent-lVheels, of which the following is a specification.

.\Iy invention relates to that class of waterwheels known as floating current-wheels,"

[o in which the wheel floats on the surface of a running stream of water and is anchored to some stationary object, so that the current passing under the floating wheel will rotate the same and through a connection with the i5 axial shaft will furnish power for any desired purpose.

My invention comprises certain novel construction and arrangement of parts of a wheel operating in accordance with the above-described principles, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse section taken through the wheel. Fig. is a perspective view of a portion of the wheel, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a set of three wheels mounted in a single frame.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A represents the axial shaft. to which is securely fastened at suitable intervals flanged hub-plates B.

C represents tubular spokes secured by yoke-shaped clips at their inner ends to the flanges of the hubs B and at their outer ends secured by couplings to the. longitudinallyarranged and parallel buckets or paddles I). These buckets are made hollow, so as to act as floats as well as paddles, and they are made either of heavy sheetmetal or of wood. They are in cross section of a diamond shape, having the sides of the outer angle of the diamond prohmged to a greater length than the inner sides of the diamond. The outer angles of the diamond are connected together by a circular ring E, which may be made of sections ous ring. The inner angles of the buckets bolted together, as shown, or as a continuwhich establishes an open communication between the interior of the hollow buckets and the tubular spokes, and the inner ends of the tubular spokes have a bond (1, which opens laterally into the air near the hub and at a point above the level of the water. This provision is to prevent the buckets from becoming water-logged from leakage, for as fast as water may leak into the buckets from defective seams or joints this water will, when the buckets reach a point above the level of the axial shaft, run out of the buckets through the inner bentendsrl'ofthetubularspokes. By this provision the buckets can never become filled with water, and their character as floats is always maintained with certainty, so that no separate floating frame or boat is required to maintain the wheel on the water. The object in turning the inner ends of the hollow spokes to one side, as shown at (l, is to prevent the drainage-water which flows from the upper spokes from passing into the open ends of the lower spokes. Instead of making all of the spokes as hollow drainage-tubes one or more only of the spokes may be so constructml. The wheel as thus described may be mounted in any kind of a frame singly, if desired; but I prefer to arrange them in sets of three, as shown in Fig. 3, in which (iis a rectangular frame having jiiurnal-bearings I for the axial shafts. There are two wheels in front with coaxially-mounted shafts arranged in alinement, or, if desired, these two wheels may be on the same shaft. The rear wheel is mounted in midway position behind the front wheel in a supplemental frame (,ir', connected by inclined braces H to the front frame.

The main frame of the wheels are to be connected by cables J to any stationary anchorage, such as a tree on shore or an anchor on the bottom of the stream, and the axial shaft or shafts of the wheels are connected by universal joints K to shafts L, extending to the point where the power is to be utilized.

I'Iaving thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A floatingcurrent-wheelconsistingof an axial shaft, a series of buoyant hollow buckets arranged parallel to the said shaft in circular series around the shaft and removed from the same, a circular brace connecting the buckets, and a series of radial hollow spokes communicating at their outer ends with the inner edges of the buckets and at their inner ends being connected with the central shaft and having openings as described whereby the hollow spokes form an integral part of the wheel and also act as drainage-tubes substantially as described.

2. A floating current-wheel, consisting of a connected series of buoyant hollow buckets, tubular radial spokes connected to and communicating with the interior of the buckets,

to the shaft substantially as shown and described.

PHINEAS M. WARREN. W'itnesses:

THoMAs J. HUFF, U. L. STEWART. 

